Chapter 9 Section 2: The Herald of Learning from the West

By the time of the Three Kingdoms, many common people in China had believed in Buddhism.Buddhist culture has gradually gained a firm foothold in China in the collision with traditional Chinese culture.Thus, the first climax of Indian Buddhist missionaries to China was formed during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.According to the "Biography of Eminent Monks", as many as 30 to 40 Indian monks came to China during this period.As for those monks who are not recorded, or have immigrated with their ancestors to the mainland of China and today's Xinjiang area, there are even more monks.When these monks came to China, they not only translated Buddhist scriptures and propagated Buddhism, but also many of them possessed various knowledge, such as astronomy, calendar, medicine, architecture, painting, sculpture, etc., and they also brought this knowledge into China, And pass it on.

The large number of Indian monks coming to China shows that the Chinese nation is accepting and assimilating the Buddhist culture from South Asia with its great cultural tolerance and absorbing power. It was also during this period that people in China also began to travel westward to seek the Dharma.The nature of these people traveling westward to seek the Dharma is different from the fact that the emperor of the Han Dynasty sent people to the Western Regions to seek the Dharma.They are entirely out of faith, they first believed in Buddhism and then went to learn Buddhist scriptures; their actions were completely spontaneous, without the support of the emperor, and very little funding from the local government. Naturally, they would encounter more and greater difficulties. Even pay the price of life.

Here we only introduce two westward seekers, Zhu Shixing and Zhu Fahu. Zhu Shixing, born in Yingchuan (now Yuxian County, Henan Province), was very extraordinary in his youth. He became a monk when he grew up and specialized in the study of Buddhist classics.At that time, there was a "Tao Xing Jing", which was translated by Zhu Foshuo, a monk who came to China in the Han Dynasty. The text is relatively simple and the meaning of the text is not complete.When Zhu Shixing was in Luoyang, he explained this sutra to his disciples, but he always felt that the principles in it were not clear and perfect.He believes that this scripture is an important scripture of Mahayana Buddhism and is very important to Chinese believers belonging to the Mahayana school. If such a scripture is not translated satisfactorily or comprehensively, it is obviously intolerable.Therefore, he decided to go west to seek the original, even if he sacrificed his life.In the fifth year of Wei Ganlu (260 A.D.), he set off to the west, crossed the Gobi, and after untold hardships, he came to Khotan (now Hotan, Xinjiang).Because it is relatively close to India, many Indian immigrants lived here at that time, and Buddhism was very popular.Zhu Shixing found the original Sanskrit version of "Tao Xing Jing" here, with a total of 90 chapters.So he decided to send his disciples to send this Sanskrit Buddhist scripture back to the mainland, while he continued to stay there to study the Buddhist scriptures.According to legend, when his disciples were about to send away the "Tao Xing Jing", trouble arose.Local Buddhists mostly believe in Theravada Buddhism, and they believe that this scripture is not an authentic Buddhist scripture, but a Brahmanic scripture.They took the opportunity to say to King Tian: "The monks from Han want to send this book of Brahmanism to Han. This is to disturb the canon with evil books. The king is the ruler here. If you don't stop it, it will make the Han If the local Buddhists become blind and destroy the Dharma of Han, then the king will be guilty of a great crime." Sure enough, the king of Khotan listened to their words and forbade Zhu Shixing to send this sutra away.Zhu Shixing was very distressed, so he asked the king of Khotan to conduct a test of burning scriptures, and the king of Khotan agreed.A fire was lit in front of the palace hall, and Zhu Shixing made a vow facing the fire: "If Buddhism should be spread in Han, this scripture should not be burned; if it is destined to be burned, there is no way." Said Come on, he threw the scriptures into the fire.At this time, a miracle happened, the fire suddenly went out, and the scriptures were intact.All the people present were amazed and thought that Zhu Shixing had moved the gods. The "Tao Xing Jing" was finally sent to the mainland, and was translated into Chinese by Zhu Shulan, an Indian who had lived in Henan at that time, and Wu Luocha, a monk from the Western Regions.Zhu Shixing stayed in Khotan until he died at the age of 80. (The above is based on "Zhu Shixing Biography" in Volume 4 of "Biography of Eminent Monks")

The story of Zhu Shixing's "burning scriptures" is obviously fictitious, and he did not actually reach India.But his actions are very meaningful.First of all, he is the first Chinese monk who went to the Western Regions to learn Buddhist scriptures in person, which has the significance of a pioneer. Starting from him, a climax of learning Buddhist scriptures in the Western Paradise gradually formed.Secondly, the scriptures he sent back played a positive role in promoting the spread of Mahayana Buddhism in mainland China, which undoubtedly contributed to the cultural exchanges between China and India.

Zhu Fahu, whose ancestors were from the Yue family, originally surnamed Zhi, lived in Dunhuang County for generations.He became a monk at the age of eight and studied Buddhist scriptures with the "foreign monk" Zhu Gaozuo, so he changed his surname to Zhu.He is intelligent by nature and studious. After visiting many famous teachers, he has made rapid progress.During the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 265-290), although Buddhism in Chang'an was quite prosperous, the Buddhist scriptures were still not complete, which made Zhu Fahu determined to go to the Western Regions to seek Buddhist scriptures.So he followed his master to the Western Regions, traveled to various countries in the Western Regions, learned 36 languages ​​​​and characters of the Western Regions, and collected many Buddhist scriptures.After many years, he returned to China with 165 Buddhist scriptures.He first went to Dunhuang and then to Chang'an. No matter where he was, he always worked tirelessly to translate Buddhist scriptures.He also recruited a large number of disciples in the Chang'an area, and thousands of people regarded him as a master at that time.Later, due to the war in Chang'an, he led his disciples to move eastward, and died in Mian (mian) pool at the age of 78. (The above is based on "Biography of Zhu Fa Hu" in Volume 1 of "Biography of Eminent Monks")

Although it is not clearly stated in historical documents whether Zhu Fahu has been to Tianzhu (ancient India), his enlightenment teacher "foreign monk" Zhu Gaozuo may be from Tianzhu, and the countries in the Western Regions he traveled must also include Tianzhu. The 36 kinds of languages ​​and characters in China must also include Sanskrit and other ancient Indian languages.It can be said that he went one step further than Zhu Shixing. Not only did he arrive in Tianzhu, but he also understood Tianzhu language and was able to translate Buddhist scriptures himself.Therefore, he made great contributions to ancient Chinese translation studies, linguistics, especially Buddhism, and is an important figure in the history of cultural exchanges between China and India.